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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938364">Something to Protect</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan'>ericsonclan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cherry Blossoms and Muted Voices [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Friendship, Gen, Mutual Pining, On the Run, Survival, Training</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:01:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Clementine is feeling the pressure of the case before her while the runaway trio work to improve their skills to increase their chances of survival.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Louis &amp; Marlon (Walking Dead: Done Running), Louis &amp; Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running), Prisha/Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cherry Blossoms and Muted Voices [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863499</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Something to Protect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(by Linnea)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I don’t know what I expected!” The chief huffed while he paced back and forth in his office. A steady line of smoke emitted from the cigarette he was smoking. It slowly was overtaking the entire smell of the office, causing Clementine to hold back coughs as she listened to her boss tear her apart. “Honestly, two months of investigating, giving you everything you need on the job for a first time detective and this is what I get!” The chief slammed his hands on the table then proceeded to toss a folder down. </p><p>Cautiously the young detective took the folder and flipped open the cover. Inside was a detailed list of all the expenses on the first few pages. After that was a list of times that her team had tried to follow a lead only for it to get them nowhere. “Sir, I-” Clementine started but was completely shut down.</p><p>“No, I don’t want to hear any bullshit excuse you may have for this! Do you realize who was taken and how important it is that he is returned safely back to his father?” The chief put out the cigarette only to immediately light a second one. Taking a huge puff of it, he blew out a sea of smoke towards Clementine’s face. She coughed sharply while pushing away the excess smoke. “Not only that, but how important this is to your career? To mine? Councilman Mason may just be starting his climb, but he has enough power to put some serious weight behind his less than friendly words.” The chief shook his head and glanced over at his phone that had what looked to be ten messages waiting for him.</p><p>“Just give me another chance,” Clementine’s voice wavered due to her nerves. “I know that it looks like we don’t have leads, but I’ll find them. I’ll bring back Mason’s son and the yakuza. You have my word.”</p><p>“I’m not sure if that is worth anything,” The chief’s words cut Clementine deeply. He stared at her, trying to get a read on how genuine she was being. With a long, drawn out sigh he started a third cigarette. “Fine, I’ll keep you on the case. But,” He pointed his finger towards Clementine, “You better bring me results.”</p><p>“Of course,” Clementine rose up and gave a short nod before leaving the office. Her head spun from the mixture of smoke and pressure laid upon her shoulders. </p><p>“Ma’am!” A young man with short brown hair ran forward who was on her team. He gave a small smile before gesturing over to the table across the room. “Mr. Davis is waiting for you.”</p><p>Clementine let out an annoyed groan. “Fine, tell him I’ll be there shortly.”</p><p>With that the young man was off to inform Louis’ friend. </p><p>Clementine could feel her frustration reaching a boiling point. She needed a sustainable lead to give to the chief to buy her time while she worked on the case. After taking a few deep breaths, she walked over.</p><p>Marlon jumped up to greet her. “Clementine. I ummm… I was wondering if you made any headway with finding Louis.” Marlon’s voice was shaky and his eyes were swirling with concern.</p><p>“No,” Clementine stated simply, falling back into her seat.</p><p>“What about those locations of old vacation homes I gave you where I think Louis might be?” Marlon placed his hands on the table.</p><p>“I’ve sent men there and there was no sign that anyone had lived or stayed there in months.” Clementine covered her face with her hand in hopes that it would somehow calm her down.</p><p>“What about the different restaurants or popular cities or-” Marlon’s sentence was cut short by the glare he received from the young detective.</p><p>“Listen, Marlon, you may think it's simple to find some rich politician’s kid in ALL of Japan, but it's not.” Clementine rose to her feet, placing her hands on the table. “You may think that a kidnapper would just let Louis pick the locations or take the most obvious choices.” Her tone was thick with sarcasm. “But it's not!” Clementine’s eyes shot up and locked with Marlon’s. “The people who have your friend are smart and cautious. So of course we haven’t made any headway! Hell, do you know how many people disappear thanks to the yakuza?!? How many are lost in a year?”</p><p>Clementine froze when a realization hit her. She could check the old files. See if there was any yakuza activity like this in their database. Specifically with the Sato Clan. Her eyes shone with hope again as she smiled towards Marlon. It soon disappeared when she realized that she had lost her temper on him.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Marlon. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. But I think I just found a potential lead… or at least the makings of one.”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Marlon scratched the back of his head. “Sorry that I was pushy.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it. I need you to leave though.” Clementine stated as she jotted down something on a notepad. </p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I’m busy so I can’t speak with you anymore. Sorry,” She motioned for one of her men to escort him out and returned to her notes before calling in another person. </p><p>“You need something, Ma’am?” The same young brunette officer poked his head into the room.</p><p>“Yes, get me access to all previous cases with the Sato Clan in the past five years as well as any local yakuza clan.” Clementine’s instructions were immediately followed and within minutes she had files upon files to read. Taking a deep breath, she sat down and began to sift through them. </p><p>After nearly two hours she started to sense a pattern. Something was off. She looked at a certain file that had to do with the Sato Clan that had been redacted then picked up another one that was closed even though neither the victim nor the clan member were found. <em>Why the hell would these files be like this?</em></p><p>----</p><p>Prisha sat down under the shade of a tree, looking down proudly at her latest purchase. A medium sharpening stone laid by her feet. Luckily the shop that carried it had one small enough for travel. She knew it would take a good sum of the money, but it would be worth it. For a samurai would be worthless with a dull blade. Sadly she couldn’t sharpen it by herself. The samurai would need to ask one of her companions for their aid, but Violet and Louis were busy at the moment. </p><p>Prisha’s eyes looked up and caught sight of the pair not too far away from her. Violet was teaching Louis the basics of self defense in hopes that it would increase their chances of escaping the grasp of the Sato Clan. Over the last couple of weeks they had had some close calls with some of the Sato Clan’s members. Luckily with their composure and wits it seemed like they were always able to slip out undetected but still their presence was never erased. One day they would run into a fight they couldn’t escape from. </p><p>So Violet had taken it upon herself to guide Louis in the art of hand to hand combat. Prisha watched as Violet directed Louis through the fighting position she held. She had modified it so Louis could use it more for defense rather than attack. With how little time they knew they had before a confrontation would be unavoidable, Violet had shortened her list of essential moves. Louis nodded along to his friend’s instruction, following each step along the way. </p><p>“No, Louis,” Violet’s tired voice carried over the wind. “Your hand positions should be like this. So that when an attack comes your way you can block it in time.” Violet shook her head in frustration. “No enemy is going to give you a single chance to defend yourself so you need to take every second that you can get.” She stepped back and fell into her fighting stance. “Now are you ready to practice blocking?”</p><p>Louis looked nervous but nodded anyway. Violet didn’t give him a single second. instead she rushed forward and threw a punch directly aimed for his face. Louis’ eyes widened as he crossed his arms to block the first attack. Violet backstepped and danced around her opponent with ease before throwing another punch. This time Louis tried another technique and used his arm to block the attack. Luckily he was successful. After a few more attacks, Violet eased up. Her chest heaved as she smiled proudly at Louis before looking away. “Well you’re not as shitty as you were before.” She looked over to see Louis looking smug and pulling on the sides of his haori. </p><p>
  <em>I’m pretty cool.</em>
</p><p>Violet rolled her eyes at her friend’s words. “Don’t get full of yourself.</p><p>
  <em>Don’t be mad, Violet, be better.</em>
</p><p>That ticked Violet off. “Okay, I was going to wait another day but fuck it. We’re going to learn disarming moves.”</p><p>That seemed to drain all the color out of Louis’ face. All his confidence was gone with that single sentence. </p><p>“What’s the matter, Lou? Scared?” Violet teased Louis who quickly snapped out of his funk. His classic charismatic smile returned and with a few dramatic gestures he made it clear that he was totally gonna win.</p><p>Violet snorted at her friend’s confidence and quickly began the lesson.</p><p>Prisha watched as Violet slowly guided Louis through each step of a disarming move. Her eyes followed the ex-yakuza closely. The samurai’s heartbeat quickened as she looked on. What had been a short ripple of attraction in the first month of her journey with Violet had soon increased. Now her heart felt a steady stream of emotions wash over it each time she looked towards Violet.<br/>
It was an odd feeling, one that the samurai had never before experienced. As such she didn’t know much of what to do with it, so initially she left it alone. But it only seemed to grow. What she thought at first were feelings of friendship were soon proven wrong. The way she felt towards Violet was unlike anything else. Her heart always seemed to quicken when she looked at Violet’s pale green eyes or how her hair looked as it blew with a small gust of wind. Prisha turned her eyes away from the pair for a minute to try and recenter herself. When she felt like she had successfully done so, she resumed watching the pair work. </p><p>Violet had shown Louis a simple move with which he could disarm someone. He seemed like he was getting the hang of it until they actually tested it out. As soon as Violet moved forward and threw a fist, Louis had tried to block it before grabbing it but Violet immediately slipped from his grasp. In one fluid movement she had pulled his arm behind his back and pinned him to the ground. “Not bad for your first attempt,” Violet offered him a hand up which he took with a short pout. Violet’s smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with a serious expression when she looked back at her companion. “Louis, I’m being tough so we can survive.”</p><p>Louis’ eyes shot up and stared at Violet’s for a few moments before falling. With a solemn nod, he took a few steps back before his bright smile returned. Getting back into his stance, he made it clear that he wanted another go. Violet obliged and the two continued to work out for another hour or so until both were exhausted. Luckily for the three of them, they still had some food left over from their last stop and so were able to have a quiet lunch enjoying the water and rice balls while they talked. </p><p>Afterwards Louis motioned towards a small field of flowers that was within eyesight.</p><p>“Fine, but only for a bit. We need to keep moving,” Violet looked up at Louis who nodded excitedly in understanding before running off. She and Prisha watched him for a moment before the samurai cleared her throat.</p><p>“I hope this wouldn’t be a bother, but I was wondering if you mind helping me sharpen my katana,”</p><p>“It’s not a problem,” Violet gave a small smile towards Prisha but immediately looked away when they locked eyes. She awkwardly shifted her weight. </p><p>Prisha began to set up the block and unsheathed her katana. Violet took the top of the blade while Prisha held onto the handle. Prisha carefully went through the motion of how to sharpen the blade. After a few rocky attempts they were finally beginning to sharpen it. Slowly they slid the blade diagonally across the block. The pair remained silent for the first few minutes when the samurai spoke up.</p><p>“My apologies. My servants were the ones who usually did this and even though I tried in the past, it seems it is impossible for me to be able to maintain my blade's edge without help." </p><p>“It’s no big deal. Glad to help,” Violet’s eyes seemed focused on the task at hand. And so the two worked, sharpening the blade for a few minutes until they stopped to give the blade a test. Prisha stood a few paces away from the ex-yakuza and using a tall stick they had found as a target Prisha got into her stance. She held the blade over her head before taking a deliberate step to the right and slashed down her blade in a fluid, water-like movement. As soon as her blade had gone through the movement the stick split in two. Prisha felt her pride bubble within her as she glanced back at Violet who seemed in awe at the move before she glanced away.</p><p>“Seems like it works,” Violet mumbled, her eyes still refusing to look over at Prisha. She held out the sheath for Prisha.</p><p>“Yes, it does seem to be efficient once again,” Prisha returned her katana to its sheath. When she reached out to retrieve the sheathed katana she accidentally brushed her hand against Violet’s which caused Prisha’s heart to stop for a second. </p><p>Violet immediately dropped the katana. “Oh shit, fuck.” Violet leaned down to retrieve the weapon. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“There’s no need for an apology,” Prisha felt her heartbeat quicken. She couldn’t look away from Violet for some reason. </p><p>But it was cut short when they both turned at the sound of footsteps approaching. Louis had returned, his hands placed behind his back. He nervously swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet before displaying his hands. Within them were a couple of fringed irises. Beautiful specks of yellow and blue were placed on the white petals. He handed them over to Violet and Prisha who accepted them with small smiles. Interlocking his index fingers then reversing his hands and doing it again, he signed one word. <em>Friendship.</em> Then he pointed to the flowers. Flowers to symbolize their friendship. </p><p>Prisha felt a kind smile cover her face before she placed the flower safely in the sash around her samurai garb. Taking the spare one, she offered it back to Louis who accepted it with a smile.</p><p>“Here, take one of mine too,” Violet offered him one. Seeing the warm smile spread across his face filled Violet with new found determination. “Okay, let’s head out,” She moved forward to help pack the things and soon the trio was off again, moving forward onto the dirt path road. Violet spun the flower in between her fingers then looked over at Louis who wanted to start up a conversation. Violet and Louis began to get caught up in their conversation while Prisha watched with amusement. </p><p>She looked at Violet for a moment, feeling the same wave of emotions crashing against her heart. With a small sigh, she focused back on the path in front of her. She shouldn’t act upon her emotions. She needed to focus on her duties as a samurai and put all of her energy into what was important - survival. <em>That’s all that matters,</em> Prisha snuck one more glance at Violet and felt her heart contradict her thought. </p><p>But it didn’t matter. Survival was key and she was determined to protect them with her life.</p>
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